Are academic journals for hire?

The role of the academic journal in advancing research findings is changing rapidly. A New York Times article earlier this year looked at the problem of pseudo-academic journals which had names similar to well-established ones, and which charged hefty fees for publication.

More recently, Randy Schekman, a U. S. biologist who won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine, said his lab would no longer send papers to several top-tier journals. Schekman said that their policies encouraged scientists to pursue trendy research rather than more significant but less sexy projects.

Dr. Jim Pivarnik, MSU’s Research Integrity Officer, says there are thousands of open access journals. They're attractive to researchers who aren't being published in the top tier journals.